


Even Vigilantes Need Vacations

by MYuzuki



Series: A Motley Little Crew of Dysfunction [8]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Batfam Week 2018, Family Fluff, Gen, bfw 2018, rated T for Jason's language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-09 10:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15265620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: When a summer heatwave strikes Gotham, certain crime-fighters decide that this might be the perfect time for some much-needed R&R.





	Even Vigilantes Need Vacations

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Batfam Week 2018, for the Day 1 theme of "Vacation".

The heatwave hits Gotham on July 17th. The weather reports predict that the obscenely hot weather will only last two or three days. "Four or five days at the most," Gail Anderson of Channel 7 assures the city.

Each and every weather report is dead wrong, and by the time the heat wave hits the fifteenth straight day in a row Jason's ready to commit murder just on general principle. The AC in his loft had gone out four days ago and  _nothing_  he does can get it working again. And he'd tried to just buy a new one yesterday, only to discover that every appliance store within twenty miles was sold out of air conditioners.

( _Sold out._  In the middle of fucking summer, in the middle of a fucking heatwave! It would be hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating. He was  _hot_ , dammit.)

The single solitary plus side to the situation was that the criminals of Gotham didn't want to be mucking around in the sweltering heat anymore than Jason and the other vigilantes did, so aside from a few muggings and robberies (and one really bizarre incident where someone had pulled a gun on a postal worker because he'd thought that the other guy was stealing and hoarding his mailer coupons), it had been a slow couple weeks for crime-fighting.

Of course, less time spent on the streets of Gotham as the Red Hood also meant more time spent in his oven of a loft, slowly melting out of his own skin. (That's what it felt like, at least, especially during the worst parts of the day when the temperature crept up past one hundred).

He was so miserable and out of it that he dozed off on the couch mid-morning one day and didn't even stir until Dick shook him awake some six hours later.

"Hey, Jaybird, up and at 'em." His older brother drags him to his feet, _much_  too energetic for a day when it's a hundred and four degrees in the shade.

(There's also the secondary concern of how the hell Dick had gotten into his loft without triggering any of his traps or alarms, but Jason's honestly too sweaty and groggy to be more than vaguely aggravated about that.)

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Jason demands, pulling out of his brother's grip with an exasperated huff when the other man moves to embrace him. "It's too hot for hugs, Dick, get the hell off!"

His brother just flashes one of those overly bright smiles at him, not at all deterred by Jason's cranky demeanor. "Aw, don't be such a grouch," Dick says. "I come bearing good tidings!"

Jason rubs at his face tiredly, then grimaces when his hand comes away damp with sweat. "The heatwave's going to spontaneously end tomorrow?" he asks sarcastically, but there's a faint thread of genuine hope tucked away in his voice as well; he is  _so_  done with this stupid muggy summer heat.

"Nope!" Dick gives another stupidly wide grin. "Even better."

Jason just arches an eyebrow at him expectantly. "Oh?" He's hard-pressed to think of anything that could be better than an end to the sweltering heat (other than the Joker's decapitated head on a pike, of course, but that's a different sort of thing entirely).

Dick reaches into his back pocket and then produces two plane tickets with a dramatic flourish. "Ta-da!" he declares. "Two first-class tickets to Vancouver."

Now Jason's just confused. "Vancouver?" he echoes, thoroughly at a loss. "Dickiebird, why the hell did you buy two tickets to British Columbia? Is this a work thing?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Dick answers with a laugh. "No work thing, for BPD or otherwise, would end up with me in first-class."

"So why do you…?"

"Because it's not for work, it's for a vacation," Dick informs him, practically bursting at the seams from excitement. "We're going to go skiing again! I booked us a reservation at Whistler Peak Lodge and everything."

Jason's thrown for a loop for a moment on account of the 'again' because he can't really recall going skiing for a  _first_  time, but then the hints of an old memory filter into his mind. Him and Dick, back when they'd both been a lot younger (back when Jason was still torn between jealousy towards Bruce's golden boy Richard Grayson and admiration for his Robin predecessor). He can remember the snow, and the way it made his ears and nose sting, and he thinks he can vaguely recall sipping at a steaming mug of hot cocoa at some point.

(He knows that there must have been more things that had happened on that vacation trip with his brother, but to his mounting frustration all he gets back when he pushes and digs for those memories is a smattering of white noise and a wash of acidic green.

As grateful as he is to be alive most days, he still hates how much the Pit has taken from him in exchange.)

"Is it really okay for us to just up and leave town with no warning?" Jason asks his brother now, not sure whether or not he should actually go along with this whole vacation idea.

On the one hand, getting the hell out of mid-heatwave Gotham was very appealing, especially when the destination was Whistler Blackcomb, one of the best ski resorts in all of North America.

On the other hand, the vigilante lifestyle was not terribly conducive to taking a leave of absence.

"You worry too much, Little Wing," Dick tells him. "Bruce and Damian can keep things under control while the rest of us take some well-earned days off."

"The rest of us," Jason echoes blankly, blinking at his brother in confusion before his brain parses the implication of those words. "The others are coming, too?"

"Hm?" Dick shakes his head. "Oh, no, they're not. You and I are the only ones heading to Canada, but Steph and Cass decided to take some time off, too; they're headed to San Francisco for some sort of music festival. Tim, meanwhile, is wrapping up a case with the Titans and then spending a few days with Conner at the Kent farm."

"Ah," is all Jason can say at first. Then, "So it'll be just you and me, then?"

"Yep," Dick replies cheerfully. "Just like last time. You and me and tons of time for brotherly bonding."

Jason makes a face on general principle but deep down he can't deny that the idea is appealing. As a kid he'd wanted so badly to have that with Dick, for them to actually  _be_  brothers, but it had never worked out.

They hadn't even really been  _friendly_  until recently, after all, and that had been after Jason had died, been brought back to life, and gone on a murderous rampage before finally shaking off the worst of the Lazarus Pit's influence and calming down enough to spend time with his siblings without wanting to commit fratricide.

"Alright," he says after another moment of thought. "Skiing in Canada. Sounds good to me."

"Yes!" Dick pumps a fist in the air like the over-exuberant goofball he is, and then glomps onto Jason in a bone-crushing hug. "We're going to have so much fun, Jaybird, I promise."

Jason does his best to squirm out of his brother's grip, but it's impossible. "Don't get so excited! I'm only going with you to get away from this stupid heatwave," he grumbles, but it's clear from Dick's knowing smile that his big brother's not buying it.

They're on a plane to Vancouver within the hour.

**Author's Note:**

> So that was my first little bfw2018 contribution! I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
